Butcher block refinishing machine



June 2, 1953 F. E. BROBERG 2,640,514

BUTCHER BLOCK REFINISHING MACHINE Filed July 10, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR FRED EBROBERG ATTORNEYS June 1953 F. E. BROBERG $640,514

BUTCHER BLOCK REFINISHING MACHINE Filed July 10, 1950 3 Sheets$heet 5 INVENTOR FRED E.BROBERG ATTORNEYS Patented June 2, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention appertains to scraping and resurfacing machines, and more particularly to a freely portable electrically operated device for cleaning and resurfacing butcher blocks and the like.

One of the primary objects of my invention is to provide a butcher block scraper embodying a housing 'or carriage rotatably supporting a novel scraping and cleaning cylinder or brush with an electric motor forming a part of the housing for rapidly operating the cylinder or brush in the desired direction.

Another salient object of my invention is to provide a novel leveling bar extending transversely of the housing for engaging the surface to be cleaned, the motor being disposed on one side of the bar, and the brush on the other side, whereby, when the machine is at rest, the weight of the motor will rock the housing on the leveling bar to normally hold the brush or cylinder above the block and out of operative contact therewith.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel flexible dust apron disposed in front of the brush or cylinder, so that the debris scraped from the block will be confined and will not be thrown forwardly of the machine.

A further important object of my invention is to provide a brush or cylinder embodying a plurality of novel, independent comb sections, so constructed that the comb sections can be readily and easily assembled on the cylinder.

A'further'prime object of the invention is to provide novel, resilient comb plates having tapering slots therein forming the desired tapering teeth, the comb plates being curved back upon themselves with the slots extending into the curved comb backs, said backs defining means for supporting the sections in the cylinder and for forming a reinforcing backing for an adjacent comb section, when'the device is in use, which eliminates oscillation of the teeth upon movement of the teeth past the block, whereby breakage of the teeth'is eliminated.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means 'for readily reversing the direction of rotation of the brush or cylinder, so that the brush can be placed upon a stone or the like and readily sharpened, when the brush or comb is rotated in one desired direction.

A still further important object of the invention is to provide a portable butcher block scraping and refinishing machine of the above character, which will be durable and efiicient in use, one that will be simple and easy to manufacture, and one which can be placed upon the market'a t a reasonable price.

With these and other objects in view, the m5 vention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter more specifically described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which drawings,

Figure 1 is a central longitudinal sectional view through my machine, taken on the line [-4 of Figure 2 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fi ure 2 is a horizontal view taken substantially on the line 2--2 of Figure '1, looking in the direction of the arrows, the view illustrating the novel construction or the cylinder or brush and the means for driving the brush from the motor.

Figure 3 is an enlarged transverse sectional view through the front of the machine taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary detail transverse sectional View through the cylinder or brush illustrating the engagement of the comb sections with a block which isto be refinished.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4, but showing the cylinder or brush rotated in a reverse direction from Figure 4, and in operative contact with a stone or the like for resharpening the comb sections.

Figure 6 is a detail side elevational view of one of the comb sections.

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6, showing a companion comb section.

Figure 8 is a detail plan view illustrating a comb pate prior to the curving thereof to form the arcuate comb back.

Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letterlvi generally indicates the novel portable resurfacing and cleaning machine. The machine M embodies a traveling housing or carriage It for the various operating parts of the machine and, as illustrated, the housing includes spaced parallel castings or side walls I! and I2. Disposed between the side Walls I l and I2 is the o eratin o drive oto 3 nd, th m t is preferably of the reversing type and of the desired horsepower. The electric motor [3 is disposed at the rear of the housing and is secured to the side plates iii and i2 by fastening screws M, which extend through the side plates H and i2 and into the casing of the motor. The rear end of the motor forms the rear wall and a portion of the top wall of the housing. As illustrated, the motor l3; arranged on one side of the transverse center of the housing. A plate I5 is connected to the side plates H and I2, in any preferred way, such as by screws I6, and forms the top and front wall for the housing. Transversely aligned bearing bosses I! are formed on the side Plates II and I2, and these bosses support any suitable type of roller or ball bearings I8, for rotatably supporting the brush shaft I9, which will be later described in detail. At the present time, it is to be noted that the brush or cylinder shaft I9 includes a cylinder section 29 and a drive section 2I. A side cover plate 23, is also provided for housing the drive mechanism employed for operating the cylinder or brush 22 from the electric motor I3.

As illustrated, the armature shaft 24 of the motor is provided with a helical pinion 24' which meshes with a helical gear 25. The gear 25 is keyed to a countershaft 29, and this countershaft is mounted in suitable anti-friction bearings carried by the side wall II and the cover plate 23. Also secured to the countershaft 25, is a sprocket wheel 21 around which is trained a sprocket chain 29. The sprocket chain is in turn trained about a sprocket wheel 29 keyed or otherwise secured to the drive section 2I of the cylinder shaft I9. Suitable machine screws 39 are employed for connecting the cover plate 23 with the side plate II.

Rigidly secured to the casing of the motor I3 and the cover plate I is a U-shaped hand grip 3I, which projects rearwardly of the machine. An electric switch 32 of the trigger type is carried by the hand grip of the handle for opening and closing the circuit to the motor. A reversing switch 33 is carried by the plate I5 at the forward end of the handle 3I for controlling the direction of rotation of the electric motor, for a purpose which will be later set forth. The wiring for the motor, and switches 32 and 33 is of the usual type and will not be described.

As illustrated in Figure l, the normal rotation of the cylinder or brush 22, is in a clockwise direction, and hence I provide a flexible apron 34 in front of the brush. This apron can be formed from a piece of rubber sheeting and the apron extends transversely of the housing and completely across the casing. The apron can be clamped in place between the wall I5 and a casing shell 35, which extends around the brush or cylinder 22, in front of the electric motor I3.

A bottom guard plate 36 is secured to the lower end of the housing between the motor I3 and the brush or cylinder 22, and the forward end of this bottom plate is curled and receives a leveling rod 31. Hence, the leveling rod is arranged between the motor and the cylinder or brush and functions to engage the block being cleaned and acts as a guide during the movement of the brush or comb over the block. The weight of the motor I3 tends to rock the machine on the leveling bar, so that the brush or cylinder will be held above the surface of the block and in an inoperative position when the machine is at rest. When the machine is being used, the operator rocks the machine on the leveling bar to bring the cylinder or brush into the desired contact with the block, and the apron 34 prevents the material being scraped from the block from being thrown in front of the machine. The casing 35 prevents this material from working back toward the motor.

Referring more particularly to the brush or cylinder 22, the same includes a pair of companion hub cylinders 38, and 39, arranged in end to end relation with a spacer 49 therebetween.

This spacer extends beyond the periphery of the hubs 38 and 39, for a purpose which will later appear, and the hubs are preferably covered by a resilient pad 41. The hubs can be held in alignment for turning movement as a unit, by dowel or like pins 42, and these hubs are mounted on the section 29 of the cylinder shaft I9. Threaded on one end of the shaft section 29 is a hub disc 43 and this hub disc extends beyond the periphery of the hub sections 38 and 39. A similar hub disc 44 is disposed at the other end of the hub and receives the end of the shaft section 29. The shaft section 29 and the shaft section 2I are united by a tongue and groove connection 45, so that the cylinder can be readily connected with the drive portion 2| of the shaft I9. A bearing stub shaft section 46 is threaded into the shaft section 29, and is carried by the roller or ball bearings I8 and by unthreading shaft section 43, the cylinder can be removed. It is to be also noted that the hub disc 44 protrudes beyond the hub sections 38 and 39 and that the inner faces of the hub discs 43 and 44 are provided at equidistantly spaced points with sockets 47, and these sockets detachably receive the terminals of rods 48, which in turn carry the comb sections 49. The comb sections 49 are best shown in Figures 6 and '7, and the comb sections are arranged in companion pairs longitudinally of the hubs. Each comb section is formed from a flat resilient plate 59, best shown in Figure 8 of the drawings, and this plate 59 is provided with slots 5I, which taper toward the inner ends defining resilient comb teeth 52. The backs of the combs are curved back upon themselves, as at 53, defining an arcuate bearing portion. The rods 45 extend through these retaining portions, as is clearly shown in Figure 3 of the drawings, and the resilient cover M of the hubs, is slightly compressed during the placing of the comb sections in position, so as to prevent free swinging of the comb sections. Upon the assembling of the comb sections, the curved back portions 53 engage the next adjacent comb sections and form a reinforcement therefor during the engagement of the free ends of the teeth of the comb sections with the block being refinished (see Figure 4).

The arrangement of the comb sections and the construction thereof is important and the comb sections can be so arranged that the teeth of one section can be staggeredly arranged relative to the teeth of the adjacent comb section. The arrangement of the sections is such that the same permits the ready assembling thereof on the hub cylinders and as the back portions 53 form a reinforcement for an adjacent comb section breakage of the teeth is prevented, and the springing back of the teeth is eliminated, which usually causes the snapping of the teeth.

By having a reversible motor, the teeth can be readily sharpened and the cylinder 22 can be driven in a counter-clockwise direction, as shown in Figure 5, and pressed against a sharpening stone 54. This places a cutting burr 55 on the leading edges of the comb teeth.

Much stress is laid on the formation of the comb sections with the tapered teeth, and the connecting web or back. The tapering of the teeth and the extension of the teeth into the curved back permits uniform bending thereof from the tip to the connecting web. Likewise, the resilient mounting of the comb sections tends to prevent breakage and the entire cylinder or brush can be easily assembled or taken apart when necessary.

The front part of the housing or casing can be provided with a hand knob 56 and in use of the appliance, one hand is placed on the knob and the other hand around the handle 3|. By pressing down on the knob, the comb or brush 22 can be brought into engagement with the surface to be refinished, with the exact, desired pressure.

Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit or the scope of this invention, but what I claim as new is:

A portable refinishing and scraping machine comprising a housing including a pair of side plates, a comb cylinder embodying a hub, a sectional shaft having a portion thereof carried by the hub and another portion carried by one of the side plates, means detachably connecting the sections together for driving relation, 9. motor mounted between said plates and means operatively connecting the motor to the shaft section carried by one of the side plates, and a bearing screw carried by the other side plate and threaded into the hub shaft section. 

